Gilead and Jounce Therapeutics forge immuno-oncology partnership worth a potential $700m+
pharmafile | September 2, 2020 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Gilead, jounce, oncology, pharma
Gilead and Jounce Therapeutics have come together in a new immuno-oncology partnership potentially worth over $700 million.
The primary drive of the deal for Gilead is to secure exclusive licensing rights to Jounce’s JTX-1811, a monoclonal antibody which targets the chemokine receptor CCR88 to selectively deplete immunosuppressive tumour-infiltration T regulatory (TITR) cells.
Gilead will make an upfront payment of $85 million in exchange for a $35 million equity stake in Jounce. As part of the deal, Jounce will be eligible for a further $685 million on achievement of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as “high single digit to mid-teen royalties” on sales.
The news of the deal sent Jounce’s share price surging by 70%.
Concerning JTX-1811, Jounce will continue to develop the therapy until it secures Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance, currently estimated to be in the first half of next year. From that point, Gilead will take over development as the sole license holder.
“We are very pleased to add, upon closing of the transaction, JTX-1811 to our pipeline of investigational immuno-oncology therapies that have the potential to transform care for patients with cancer,” remarked William A Lee, Gilead’s Executive Vice President of Research. “JTX-1811 is complementary to our other oncology candidates and has the potential to be first in a new class of therapies as a treatment for people with both solid tumours and haematological malignancies.”
Matt Fellows
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